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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I wasn't buiyng it until he left the room the Visser got angry bc "Elfangor deserved a better son"
WHAT THE
FOR REAL???
my god.... Oh My God
WHAT THE
FOR REAL???
my god.... Oh My God
This Animorphs title feels built around a single scene near the end, when our current narrator sits down to hear a piece of news about his family that most readers likely already learned in The Andalite Chronicles, published the previous year. He is there in his Ellimist-restored human body, functionally incognito amid enemies watching to see if he shows signs of extraterrestrial knowledge, and able to keep his face neutral despite his roiling emotions thanks to his time as an expressionless hawk. Later when he's alone, he again morphs into his temporary person form in order to cry as he regularly now can't.
It's a powerful moment, but the book until then is a little meandering. Before this meeting and its revelations in the lawyer's office, Tobias is wondering whether a woman claiming to be his older cousin is genuine and debating her offer to take him in, which would probably mean giving up his ability to morph. At this stage in the series, it seems like a foregone conclusion that he will stay in the fight instead, and so his indecision never really registers as particularly meaningful. He hates the Yeerks and has grown to accept and even welcome his identity as part-bird and part-boy, so why would he be tempted to give all that up to go live with a stranger? Some touching exchanges with Rachel, in which she explicitly casts their relationship as romantic via comparison to Romeo and Juliet (and their friends Jake and Cassie) constitute a partial explanation, but still don't provide the dilemma enough heft, in my opinion.
Likewise, the subplot where the protagonist is starving and under territorial threat from a different animal is rather odd. He's feeling insecure before his rival, and he keeps getting unexplained flashes where he switches places with his prey anytime he tries to make a kill. At the lowest point it drives him to feed on roadkill, where he's seen by Rachel to the embarrassment of them both. The teen's own bizarre interpretation that these visions represent his two natures trying to tell him something about his hybrid self is unlikely, but we're not given any alternate answer like Ellimist intervention, either. It's just a weird unnatural experience he's going through for no apparent reason, which is not a very satisfying development.
Meanwhile, the team is investigating the disappearance of a child from the free Hork-Bajir colony, who could be abused by humans or lead the Yeerks back home if not found quickly. I appreciate the returning focus to this section of the franchise, especially for its tense note of the former Controllers looking out for their own interests and not wanting to share all their information with the Animorphs, whose mission doesn't necessarily align with their own. Under the guidance of the young seer Toby, our hero's namesake, the aliens want to continue raiding enemy installations for new recruits so that they can grow to a sizable force to defend themselves against earth's natives in the far future. It's a cold calculation and one of the better elements of the novel, but it's ultimately a peripheral detail on a slower installment.
[Content warning for body horror and gore.]
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It's a powerful moment, but the book until then is a little meandering. Before this meeting and its revelations in the lawyer's office, Tobias is wondering whether a woman claiming to be his older cousin is genuine and debating her offer to take him in, which would probably mean giving up his ability to morph. At this stage in the series, it seems like a foregone conclusion that he will stay in the fight instead, and so his indecision never really registers as particularly meaningful. He hates the Yeerks and has grown to accept and even welcome his identity as part-bird and part-boy, so why would he be tempted to give all that up to go live with a stranger? Some touching exchanges with Rachel, in which she explicitly casts their relationship as romantic via comparison to Romeo and Juliet (and their friends Jake and Cassie) constitute a partial explanation, but still don't provide the dilemma enough heft, in my opinion.
Likewise, the subplot where the protagonist is starving and under territorial threat from a different animal is rather odd. He's feeling insecure before his rival, and he keeps getting unexplained flashes where he switches places with his prey anytime he tries to make a kill. At the lowest point it drives him to feed on roadkill, where he's seen by Rachel to the embarrassment of them both. The teen's own bizarre interpretation that these visions represent his two natures trying to tell him something about his hybrid self is unlikely, but we're not given any alternate answer like Ellimist intervention, either. It's just a weird unnatural experience he's going through for no apparent reason, which is not a very satisfying development.
Meanwhile, the team is investigating the disappearance of a child from the free Hork-Bajir colony, who could be abused by humans or lead the Yeerks back home if not found quickly. I appreciate the returning focus to this section of the franchise, especially for its tense note of the former Controllers looking out for their own interests and not wanting to share all their information with the Animorphs, whose mission doesn't necessarily align with their own. Under the guidance of the young seer Toby, our hero's namesake, the aliens want to continue raiding enemy installations for new recruits so that they can grow to a sizable force to defend themselves against earth's natives in the far future. It's a cold calculation and one of the better elements of the novel, but it's ultimately a peripheral detail on a slower installment.
[Content warning for body horror and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
I really enjoyed this one, but it wasn't notable. Toby learning about his true heritage is amazing and I'm so excited to see where we go with that info, but the rest of the story was just ok.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The nostalhia trip continues. This was a standout book in my memory not least because Tobias was a firm favourite. The lore deepens. The threads between the various characters ever more connected and linked. Another intense book as Tobias wrestles with difining who/what he is.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
blowing a kiss to the sky for alan fangor
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Major beastiality update: they're thinking about it, but they won't go through with it ☹️
Bittersweet moment for Rachel/Tobias shippers
Bittersweet moment for Rachel/Tobias shippers
dark
tense
medium-paced
This poor hawk boy just had the worst birthday ever. Lowkey the unbelievable reveal at the end made me forget the other main points but rest assured it was more Tobias grappling with his position between the human and animal worlds, as a predator and a warrior, all that good stuff. Wowza